Jen’s English Tip’s – In The End versus At The End

In the end is used mostly as an idiom that means “finally,” “after a long time,” or, “when everything is considered.” It is often followed by a comma. Here are some sentences with this idiom:

We worked hard, and in the end, we achieved our goal.

In the end, what really matters in a friendship is trust.

At the end

At the end is used in the idiom “at the end of the day.” which means something similar to in the end (= when everything is considered). However, at the end is most commonly used more literally, as a prepositional phrase followed by of, to refer to the end of a specific noun. This noun can be a physical object, a period of time, an event, a place, or something more abstract, such as one’s patience.